Flemish Bend

The flemish bend, also commonly referred to as a figure-eight bend, is a knot commonly used to tie two ropes together.

Why might we tie two ropes together?

The most common reason is for a rappel. And this knot can be used for that application, but it is not the preferred knot. Instead, the preferred knot is the overhand flat bend (often called the Euro death knot or EDK).

There are two common applications for the flemish bend. (1) It is used to tie a cordalette into a loop. And (2) it is used to tie two ropes together for long topropes. In both applications, climbers use the bend because it is easy to untie. A word of warning though...if you elect to toprope with two ropes tied together, be sure to consider the rope-stretch implications of having so much rope in the system.

The flemish bend is very easy to tie. It is simply a standard figure-eight follow-though, threaded by a new rope in the opposite direction. To see an example, click below:

In this particular video, the bend is not dressed at the end. I always prefer dressed knots to undressed knots. Undressed knots are not bad, they won't fail. But dressed knots are easier to quickly check to ensure that they're tied properly.

(Side-note: a bend is a term from a family of knots used to connect two ropes.)

--Jason D. Martin